Two days after leaving Exil. Rei, who was flying on Set, was already far from Exil.
As for where he was……
「You really don’t have a lot for being a bandit.」
A bandit hideout.
It wasn’t too hard to explain why he was at such a place.
On the way from Exil to Gilm, he had noticed a commotion taking place on the ground. Looking down, he saw several carriages attacked by a group of horse riders.
Listening in to what the men on the horses were yelling at the carriages, he found out that they were bandits.
Rei, who was of the opinion that bandits should be exterminated, succeeded in taking out most of the bandits attacking the carriages by sending out Flying Slashes and fire magic from the air.
In addition to the riders, there were also some bandits hiding in the path of the caravan, but there was no way they could hide from Set’s sense of sight, hearing, and smell. They were easily annihilated in a carpet bombing attack.
After Rei found out that the carriages belonged to a merchant caravan, he interrogated the surviving bandits and forced them to reveal the location of their hideout.
Rei alone……or more precisely, Rei and Set, were more than enough to kill off the remaining bandits, so he didn’t really need reinforcements……however, the merchants and their guards begged to help in return for his kindness. Being too troublesome to refuse, Rei decided to take them along.
From his interrogation, Rei found that most of the bandits had been in the attack, leaving only a few people behind in the hideout, which might have something to do with the merchant’s decision.
That and the fact that they might be able to take the items the bandits had previously looted.
Rei wondered if it was okay for the guards to ignore their escort target so easily, but since the merchants, who was the one being escorted, agreed, Rei said that he wouldn’t be held responsible if anything happened before they left for the hideout.
In the end, matching what they had learned from the interrogation, only a few people were left at the hideout, which the guards quickly captured. It seemed like they would end up being sold as slaves in the city the merchants were going to, similar to the survivors of the bandits who had attacked the merchants.
Of course, Rei’s share had already been paid to him, including an additional sum as a reward.
「No, no. I think it’s quite reasonable for a group of bandits of this size.」
A merchant spoke to Rei with a big smile on his face.
From the point of view of the merchants, it was a good thing if Rei had no interest in anything as they could legally take anything that the bandits had hoarded with minimal effort.
「As promised, I’ll take what I want first, is that okay?」
「Yes, go ahed. But, if you could consider everything……」
It was only natural for the merchants to mention their own request, although they seemed embarrassed to bring it up.
「Don’t worry. As I said earlier, there’s almost nothing among what they hoarded that I want. You guys should take the rest in exchange for your troubles.」
Saying that, Rei looked around the treasure vault……or rather, a place best described as a warehouse.
The bandit group wasn’t that big to begin with, so most of what they had were leather bags containing copper and silver coins as well asl some clothing, tableware, weapons, and armour.
Seeing that, Rei, without any hesitation, went right over to where the weapons were and stored any spears into the Misty Ring.
With regards to throwing spears, he had replenished his stock from various weapon shops and blacksmiths in Exil, but it was always good to have some in reserve.
At the same time, he stored away all the knives.
Those were basically cosumables for stripping monster materials.
That said, there weren’t that many spears and knives in total.
It was only natural since these were the leftover weapons that the bandits didn’t use.
「Well, that’s all I need. You can deal with the rest.」
「……Are you sure about this? That is……」
The merchants had seen Rei take out the Death Scythe when attacking the bandits, but once again, they were captivated by Rei’s use of his item box in front of them.
From the merchants’ perspective, they had though Rei, a solo adventurer, would take the money first.
However, Rei had just taken the spears and knives, leaving everything else.
Rei was somewhat surprised by that question, but nodded to indicate it was fine.
「Money isn’t a concern for me.」
Hearing Rei say those words, the merchants’ gazes was half filled with admiration and half with astonishment.
To a merchant, no matter how much money they had, they would never be satisfied. The more money the better.
That said, even if they wanted more money, they wouldn’t use dishonest means to do so.
At the very least, the merchants here seemed to have that common sense.
However, from Rei’s point of view, having the money from selling materials and magic stones obtained from Exil’s dungeon and the rewards recieved from handing over the corpses of the abnormal species and various information to Vosk, his pockets were feeling quite full.
「I understand, let’s do that. So, um……what do you plan to do now, Rei-dono?」
「What do you mean?」
Rei asked back, not quite understanding the merchant’s question.
「So, where do you plan to go from here? ……If we’re headed in the same direction, why don’t you join us?」
Hearing those words, the rest of the merchants all nodded as if it were a good idea.
In comparison, the people who had been hired to guard them had slightly disatisfied expressions on their faces.
「……Ah.」
From those words, Rei could guess the merchants’ intentions.
With someone who had the strenght to wipe out a group of bandits from the sky, the safety of their journey would basically be guaranteed.
The merchants must have desperately wanted to hire Rei as a guard, since he had proven to be stronger than all the guards they had hired combined.
「Of course, we will pay a suitable reward. What do you think?」
At their question, Rei shook his head silently.
「I’m sorry, but I’m in a hurry. It was just a coincidence that I saved you this time.」
「Is there no way?」
「Sorry, I need to get to Gilm as soon as possible.」
After Rei’s brief reply, the merchant talking to him let out a small sigh.
「I understand. If you’re in a hurry, it’s useless to say anything more. ……Rei-dono, thank you very much for helping us out this time. As the leader of this merchant caravan, I would like to thank you.」
Bowing his head deeply, the other merchants and guards also bowed their heads.
With those parting words, Rei left the cave that the bandits had been using as their hideout.
「Gururu~?」
As he flapped his wings and flew through the deep blue summer sky, Set turned his head back as he gave a cry.
Rei gave in to Set’s request for food, which could be seen in his round eyes, and took some dried meat out from the Misty Ring before giving it to him.
「Gururururu~」
Set flapped his wings happily as he ate the dried meat.
「You’re quite dexterous, aren’t you.」
Even while looking back, there was no deviation it’s Set’s direction or speed.
It seemed that it was something Set could do by flying on instinct.
Rei thought about that as he stroked Set’s neck.
Maybe because of that, Set gave a loud cry as he flapped his wings harder, further increasing his flight speed.
A small smile appeared on Rei’s face as he saw some monsters below flee into the forest at the sound of Set’s cry.
Mid summer was starting to pass and autumn was graudally approaching, but summer was still summer.
Even if the mornings and nights were getting cooler, the sunlight was still strong during the day.
Cumulonimbus clouds floated in the distant sky, giving Rei a sense of the season.
Thanks to his Dragon Robe, Rei barely felt the heat as Set flew a straight path along the winding highway……and before long, they could see a city below them.
That’s right, Gilm, the only city on the frontier.
「Guru~, Gururururu~!」
Seeing Gilm for the first time in a long while, Set gave out a happy cry.
Several monsters on the ground that heard his cry decided they stood no chance of winning if they were attacked and fled back into the forest.
Some monsters had been fighting each other, but they also fled in different directions as soon as they heard Set’s cry.
……The biggest problem was probably the travelers, merchants, and adventurers along the highway.
Most people in Gilm were familiar with Set, who was treated like a sort of mascot. But, there were also those who had recently come to Gilm……or more precisely, were seeing Set for the first time.
When the people who were running away in a panic were told what was going on by those who knew, they were all surprised.
The reason Set could still be recognised from such a height and his cry was mainly because he was so well known in Gilm.
In any case, Set flapped his wings and landed a short distance away from Gilm before they went over to the main gate.
Normally, it would be easier to land right in front of the main gate, but since Rei had been warned about it before, he decided to be more careful.
「Oh, I knew it. Isn’t it Set and Rei? It’s been a while.」
Turning to look at Rei and Set, who were walking over, one of the guards that Rei was familiar with smiled as he spoke.
「I went over to Exil for a bit.」
「Exil……is that the Labyrinth City?」
「Well, something like that. There was something I was looking for.」
Rei held out his guild card as they spoke.
Recieving it, the guards went through the entry procedures in an familiar manner.
「More importantly, where’s Ranga?」
When Rei asked about the missing captain of the guards, who would usually handle Rei’s entry exclusively, the guard shrugged his shoulders as he skillfully went through the formalities.
「If you’re asking about the captain, he’s had some business to attend to. He’s been over in Abuelo in the past three days.」
「Abuelo?」
Rei was puzzled at the mention of the closest town to Gilm as he prompted the guard to continue.
「Yeah. It seems that a rather troublesome group of bandits has appeared. Several knights and guards, including Captain Ranga were dispatched as reinforcements.」
「Bandits, huh. We don’t have as many bandit problems near Gilm.」
「That’s right. If you have the ability to be a bandit around here, you might as well work normally as an adventurer. Here, your guild card and Necklace of Subservient Monster.」
Gilm, which was located on the frontier, naturally had a large number of monsters in the area. Not just numbers, but also a large variety.
Even half-baked adventurers wouldn’t want to camp outside Gilm.
After completing the procedures, Rei stored his guild card back into the Misty Ring and hung the necklace around Set’s neck.
With that done, they entered through the main gate into Gilm.
「Gurururu~」
Urged by Set’s hungry cries, Rei went over to a food stall near the main gate……
「Oh, isn’t this Set? Rei as well. You’re back. How have things been? Today’s skewers are absolutely delicious.」
The stall owner’s voice echoed out into the surroundings and many eyes turned to Rei and Set.
「Ohh, it’s Set.」
「It’s definitely Set.」
「He’s cute as always.」
「I haven’t seen Set lately, I finally got to meet him.」
「Set-chan, would you like a sandwich?」
「Ah, Rei is here as well.」
「That’s right.」
「Yay, it’s Set-chan, Set-chan. Hey, hey, let’s play.」
「Hey, that’s cheating. I also want to play with Set.」
While talking like that, many passers-by, stall owners, adventurers, and children gathered nearby.
……It was only natural that Set was the primary target for most of them, Rei was just a bonus, considering Set’s position in Gilm.
However, it was also true that if there was a commotion at the front gate, it would become a hindrance to others.
「Hey, hey, don’t gather here for too long. Set won’t run away, so please move on for now.」
That was what the guards at the front gate said.
People looked disappointed, but they all listened and left the place.
Of course, they didn’t simply leave right away. Many of them gave dried meat and sandwiches they had on them to Set while the quick ones bought some skewers for Set.
Hearing Set give happy cries after recieving a large amount of food, Rei headed back to the Dusk Wheat to stay for the night.
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